I came, I saw, I (almost) conquered

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Ooof…I'm so…the burger was...the Airliner Airbus Challenge was...ugh.

Let's just say, it was a lot of food.

I knew it was going to be a lot of food but on the day of performance my stomach just couldn’t handle the 2 inch thick beef patties and slimy American cheese, topped with a salad and shoved into a brioche loaf.

Ashleigh Monaco

First off, 2 lbs of burger patty is a lot, okay.

It was really the burger patties that got me. According this food strategy, I needed to approach them first since they have depreciating taste value (meaning the colder they are the worse they taste). The problem was they were tough and covered in this gross melted American cheese that was fine at first; but, when you have to eat a half inch of it on top of both patties with bacon wedged inside, the grease becomes almost unbearable.

I was listening to music while attempting the Airliner Airbus Challenge and at one point I just had to ignore all logic and try to put it in my stomach as quickly as I can. It wasn’t about eating the burger and savoring the taste-I needed to inhale the food.

Which is another part that caught me off guard. When you’ve been raised your whole life eating food in an enjoyable way, you know, tasting it, you’re completely unprepared to eat 3.5 lbs of food in 30 minutes. Not only do I need to expand my stomach more in the future, but I need to practice speed eating techniques.

Yes, you read that right, “in the future.” I’m not giving up on the Airliner Airbus Challenge.

I only finished the 2lbs of burger patty with cheese and bacon before the 30 minute time limit passed but it helped me realize my training just wasn’t rigorous enough. The day of the event, after I’d lost, I felt a gut sickening fullness. I’d never felt that during practice, not even on my max day right before the event when I’m supposed to eat so much that I “won’t be able to sleep because [my] body is working hard to digest all the food [I] just ate.” I had trouble even moving after competition day without feeling sick, that’s probably a feeling I should have had during max day too.

Speaking of feeling sick, another little thing that surprised me was how bad the grease was. Burgers have a crazy amount of grease.

I need to research more ways to cut through that because I wasn't practicing with highly greasy food (I practiced with steamed vegetables) so my body and taste buds had no preparation for the fat bomb they were about to receive.

While I was in the zone, one of the managers of Airliner came by and shared with my fellow spoon members that a girl had come in and finished the Airliner Airbus Challenge in 7 minutes so I know it’s possible.

I just need to get pass the grease, the uncomfortable training, and the speed of my eating. My goal for now is to work myself up to being able to drink a gallon of water and eat 3 lbs of vegetables. I'm guessing it will be pretty hard...